


plant new seeds in the melody

by demigodbeautiies



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Fluff, M/M, Magical Realism, Summer Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Witchcraft, florist Will, witch Nico
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:40:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27028237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demigodbeautiies/pseuds/demigodbeautiies
Summary: The figure looked up at him as he approached, and Will blinked, dumbstruck.He was pretty.“Uh,” the man said, blinking up at Will, before glancing down at the paper towels in his hands and back again, not moving to take them. “Do you sell herbs?”
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 8
Kudos: 167





	plant new seeds in the melody

**Author's Note:**

> This is something so horrifyingly self indulgent because like, life is short, y'know? We're in a pandemic, what am I going to do, not write soft fluffy fanfiction of my faves?
> 
> I also reuploaded this because the chapter lengths got whack! Sorry lol 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Also the title is from Sunflower Vol. 6 by Harry Styles, which I definitely recommend for the vibes

###  JUNE

The summer began with rain, as it often did, and Will wasn’t happy with it. 

He, like his flowers, bloomed best in bright rays of sunshine. And sure, flowers needed as much water as the next organic living creature, but not as much rain as they were getting now. 

“This sucks,” Will said, for what might have been the tenth time in as many minutes. He had lost track. 

He huffed where he had leant against the glass window of the shop, looking out onto the little street that housed Sunshine Flowers. The stands of flowers to lure in customers were managing, barely, under the awning, but if the wind carried on he’d be sent out to rescue them. Across the street, the tiny, hole in the wall pet store had already caved, dragging in the buckets of squeaky dog toys a half hour ago. 

“You could distract yourself by actually doing your job,” Annabeth said from behind the counter. Will turned towards her, frowning at his colleague. 

“I would if we had any customers whatsoever. It’s just not flower buying weather, Annabeth.”

He heard her sigh. 

“I’m going in back to sort the office. Can you at least stand behind the counter?”

“Fine,” he muttered, pushing himself away from the window and wandering back to the counter to live out the rest of his youth like a good little capitalist pawn. 

He managed to pass a good amount of time fidgeting with the displays on and around the front counter, arranging flowers like - well, like a florist paid to do just that. 

He had skills, at least. 

The day was nearing its end when the front door blew open, making Will jump. The bells above the door jingled violently, and it hadn’t been intentional, if the quiet swear from the customer was anything to go by.

“Fuck,” they said, and Will looked up from where he had been colour coordinating the pen cup. 

The figure was hunched forward, like they intended to be absorbed into the shadows of their own hooded sweater, and fidgeting with the straps of their bag. 

They were also soaking wet, and dripping all over the floor.

“Hey-” Will started, ducking out from behind the counter with paper towels in hand. He slipped underneath the folding countertop, rather than lifting it, almost like he was bragging that he was, in fact, able to do so at 6’3. The fact that no one was there to see was irrelevant.

The figure looked up at him as he approached, and Will blinked, dumbstruck.

He was pretty. 

“Uh,” the man said, blinking up at Will, before glancing down at the paper towels in his hands and back again, not moving to take them. “Do you sell herbs?” 

His eyes were dark brown and Will would melt in them if given the chance, he could already tell. He had a feeling that he was already halfway gone, looking at the figure before him as he stared back at Will. The hood had done something, at least, and Will could see dry locks of dark hair falling around the man’s face.

He was getting distracted.

“Herbs!” he said, far too loud if the sudden jump the man before him gave was anything to go by. 

“Yes,” the man repeated, not smiling, and Will wanted to die. 

“What kind?” he asked, hopefully a normal volume, stepping away from the man with a speed that surprised him, belatedly hoping he didn’t slip in any puddles. That was not the way to save himself from his own undoing and further embarrassment. 

“Lavender," the man said, “Basil. Patchouli, if you have it.”

“Hm,” Will said, feeling his mind draw away from his own embarrassment by the focus that came naturally when he was given a task to focus on. “I can do the first two. Patchouli might need to be ordered in.”

Vaguely, he was aware that the man was following him around the shop, even if he was doing so at a distance. It wasn’t a big shop, and their stock had a tendency to overflow from the shelves. At the very least, the weather had stopped potential customers from flooding in, but Will found himself absentmindedly stepping over some of the big leafy plants encroaching on the aisles.

“Here,” he said, finally stopping before the small section that had been set aside for their herb plants. There were shelves and shelves with neatly ordered rows of potted plants, plus a small display of seed bags off to the side. Above it all, was a sign designed with looping letters designating it as The Herb Corner.

“Herbs,” Will said at the man’s silence, stupidly, but the man still didn’t say anything. Will watched him lean forward to look at the labels. They were written in Will’s bubbly letters, because Annabeth’s messy scrawl was indecipherable. 

“Thanks,” the man finally said, and Will took that as his cue to leave him be, awkwardly turning around and picking up a potted fern to have something to do with his hands. Maybe he could re-pot it in something nicer than a plain clay pot, like one of the new ceramic pots they had received. 

It had been slow, customers kept out of window shopping by the rain. Generally speaking, he was out of practice talking to anyone that wasn’t Annabeth, young parents with their toddlers, or the over excited men who worked at the pet store across the road. He could talk to any of them easy, but someone new and pretty - 

He could be cool, right?

“So the patchouli-”

Will jumped, the plant in his hands scattering into the air and tumbling towards the ground. He cursed, grabbing for it as it fell, but only serving to hit it towards the floor with more force. 

He winced at the shattering crash that echoed around the room when he failed.

“Fuck,” he said, voice quiet, and the man behind him laughed. He felt his cheeks flush red. 

He was blushing as he swept up the dirt and ceramic, and he was blushing as he delicately lifted the fern up to put it in a temporary plastic pot. He didn’t think he would ever stop blushing, and least of all now when he moved back towards the counter with this man on his heels, ready to pay. 

“Sorry for startling you,” he said, placing his selected plants down on the counter, looking sheepish. “I can pay for the pot.”

“No,” Will said, waving him off before ducking down to stand behind the counter again. “It was ugly anyway.”

He smiled, and the shop fell into quiet as Will started wrapping the plants in brown parchment paper. He fought not to fidget while he rang him up. If he said something cool, maybe he could save this whole ordeal, and seem worth this man’s time. Maybe, just maybe, he would come back - 

“You know,” he started, instantly knowing that he wasn’t going to say anything remotely cool. “You should never get potted herbs from supermarkets. They always-”

“Put too many seeds in a pot,” the man finished, and Will blinked up at him. 

“Yeah,” he replied, voice soft with a smile. “They’re designed to die, so you buy more.”

The man smiled, thumbing at the leaves of the plant on the counter before him. “Not yours?” 

“We’re an ethical business,” he scoffed, not able to hide his disdain at the thought of doing something so wasteful. “We want our plants to thrive.”

“Well, I tend to kill things,” the man muttered.

“I think that just means I’ll have to do a good job at prepping you now,” he said with a grin. “Or at least checking up when you come back for your patchouli.” 

“Sounds good,” he said, smiling just as wide. 

Will watched as the man turned to leave, hunching over his plants as he braced for the rain. 

He was fucked.

The man came back. 

First for the promised patchouli plant, that Will had found in delight in their next shipment. He kept it and nurtured it as best he could, until the man stopped back in once more and Will could excitedly duck into the back room and bring it out to him. 

But even after that, he kept coming back. 

Will felt his excitement bubble every time the door would open to a figure, hunched into a dark hooded jacket against the rain. He would watch the man move to the herb section, dark brown eyes drawing along the different variations of greenery. Sometimes he would stray as far as to the vases. The man would look at stones, and cut flowers, and house plants, and Will would look at him. 

And Will would grin, and find a way to make his way over and point something out. If he couldn’t get away from the counter, he would watch from afar and bite his tongue to stop from calling out something stupid, like “I like your hair!” or “I can’t stand next to you but I really want to!”

But he would always find a way to say something , and the man kept coming back.

Another dreary, drizzly day saw him ringing up a small watering can for a man with a child perched on his shoulders. The bell above the door chimed, bringing a soft breeze into the room. The child giggled at the sound, and Will could see leaves gently rustling along the aisles. 

And there He was. 

Annabeth had been calling him Herb Boy, a necessary adoption for teasing Will, although he would have argued something like The Handsome Embodiment of My Dreams was more apt. 

Herb Boy was catchier, and he couldn’t fault her for that.

But Herb Boy wandered in, nodding at Will when he caught his eye, before turning to hunt through the green plants in the section reserved for leafy greens. 

With effort, Will forced his attention back to the customers in front of him, handing the watering can to the child with a soft smile. They left with a wave, and he did his best to reciprocate, but the moment they ducked out into the grey day, he hightailed it as fast as he could from behind the counter.

“What is it today?” he asked, mentally cheering at how chill and casual he sounded. Great job, Solace!

“Catnip,” Herb Boy murmured below him, focusing on the labels before him. He had crouched down, with the knuckles of his left hand resting gently on the linoleum floor.

“We don’t usually sell that much, but we do stock it,” Will said, crouching down next to him. He could feel the way he held his body next to him and wanted to scream. 

“I assumed the pet store would have it, but they sent me here,” he said, gently touching the leaves of a parsley plant. 

“Huh,” Will said. He could have sworn they stocked it, but he wasn’t about to complain. Not when it left him crouched on the shop floor next to Herb Boy. 

“Here,” he said, finally, reaching down and grabbing a pot to lift it towards the man at his side. 

Will shot him a bright grin, but he looked away, taking the pot with only a curt nod. A flicker of something forlorn shot through his stomach, but he moved before he could let himself feel disappointed, ducking under the counter and ringing up the man’s purchases. 

“That’ll be -”

He was cut off by the loud crash of coins clinking against each other like rain, set to the chorus of the man before him cursing. Will jumped, and then there were coins everywhere.

He ducked, catching sight of a silver coin as it rolled off of the countertop, clinking to the floor behind him. He turned to grab it between his fingers, saving it from rolling under the counter and being lost to the dark dust bunnies. 

He paused, holding it under the light in his hand.

It was heavier than a quarter, and far too large - generally unlike any Will had seen before, suggesting it may, in fact, not be a quarter. In the centre of the circle was a cross, with a half circle atop it and a smaller dot within that. 

He blinked down at it. Definitely not a quarter.

He popped back up to stand regardless, handing it back with an outstretched palm. 

“Sorry,” Herb Boy said, sounding almost sheepish as he grasped it delicately from Will’s hand. 

“It’s okay,” he replied, grinning. “Not American money, is it?”

The man laughed, turning the coin over and over in his fingers before shoving it back into his pocket. Will could tell he was still absently fidgeting with it, from the way his wrist twisted. 

“It’s a witches’ token,” he said. Will blinked, both eyebrows raising in surprise. 

He hadn’t been expecting that.

Statistically, witches weren’t uncommon. It was far from a secret, anymore, and not difficult to know exactly which of your friends was, well - a witch. 

They weren’t even in hiding, not anymore. As far as Will knew, the need for secrecy had stopped long ago, and witches were a regular part of the community he lived in. There may have been a history of animosity, but that had faded long ago. Witches were just another part of life in a city.

It was just that, well. 

He kind of thought that the dark clothes and hoods had gone out of style, in the community. Something about stereotypes . 

“Is that a problem?” the man said, eyebrow raised, and Will was thrown violently back into the realisation he had been zoning out in front of a customer who might assume he was holding unfounded prejudices against him. 

And he probably wasn’t that far off, fuck. 

“Sorry!” Will said, and the man blinked, because fuck, Solace, you keep shouting - 

“Sorry,” he repeated, looking back down at the counter before him. He could bag up some purchases without making a customer think he was a bigot. 

“It’s $4.20, altogether” Will said.

“Nice,” the man replied, and Will laughed.

“We have a delivery,” Annabeth called. 

He looked up from where he had been arranging the most recent arrival to the shop: another new collection of ceramic plant pots, decorated with small, sunny flowers. She had leaned her head out of the back room, gazing down the aisle Will was crouched in. He could see a slip of paper clutched in her hand. 

“Sure,” he said, giving the pot before him one last twist to make it sure it was straight, before standing and moving to take the paper Annabeth held out to him between her fingers. 

“The bookshop,” she said, nodding at her messy scrawl. Will hadn’t been able to decipher it, if he was honest, and was glad for the hint.

“I’ll get to it, then,” he said, stepping around his colleague gingerly to tug the shop’s little red trolley from under the desk. It came in handy to have one, whether it was for unpacking deliveries, reordering seasonal stock, or - in this case - for their local deliveries. 

He flitted around the store, picking up marigolds and succulents and begonias and geraniums, and placing them gently into the trolley like he would his own child. Probably with more delicacy than his own child. Children bounced, but plants tended to just crash. 

“Do you think we could invent inflatable plant pots?” he asked. Annabeth blinked, looking up at him for a beat before shrugging. 

“Someone’s probably beat us to it.”

Will nodded. She was probably right. 

“I’ll be back soon,” he said, and Annabeth waved him off, already going back to the piece of paper she had been looking through before the order came in. 

The rain had paused it’s drizzly welcome of the summer, at least for the time being. There had been more than one day of sunshine so far, even if there were still an abundance of clouds speckling the sky above. Will breathed in the warm air anyway, and didn’t mind the humidity. He could stand in his t-shirt and jeans, no umbrella, and that was something. 

There was a small bookstore two streets over, and tucked just around the corner. It was a brick building, connected on one side to a bakery with an alley on the other. Will had been in a few times, and stopped outside to pet the small black cat that lived there there many more. 

It took a bit of manoeuvring to get the trolley past the tables stacked with books set up in front and through the door, but he managed after a moment, stepping fully into the dark main room. 

The first obvious thing to note was that it was cluttered, with books. Probably as cluttered, if not more, than the aisles of Sunshine Flowers, stacked up as they were with greenery and pots. Will could see knick-knacks dotted around the shop, from picture frames with paintings of the beach to teapots to mirrors to vases in any and every size and shape.

And behind the counter, a woman, with dark skin and tightly curled golden hair. Where Will would expect the staff of the shop to be dressed in dark, cozy clothes that fit the atmosphere of the shop, she stood in a burst of colour, with a purple sundress and gold chain jewellery.

She grinned at Will when he smiled her way, glancing down once at his trolley of plants before looking up and meeting his eye. He recognised her. In his many days gazing forlorn out the front of the shop, he had seen her duck into the pet store across the road. 

“Did Annabeth send you?” she asked, putting down the book she had been reading as he came closer to the counter, readjusting the trolley as he went to avoid knocking down stray stacks of books.

“Yep,” he said, moving to search through his pockets for the slip of paper Annabeth had given him before he left and handing it to her. She squinted at Annabeth’s messy handwriting, and, yeah, that was fair. 

A black cat jumped up on the counter next to the woman, rubbing it’s head against her arm. Will grinned, instantly distracted from his delivery by the small creature before him.

“And who’s this?” he asked, reaching out and scratching behind its ear with a wide smile. He recognised the cat, almost faster than he had recognised the woman behind the counter - and he was delighted when he felt it begin to purr. 

“My cousin’s cat,” the woman said, smiling down at the cat. “He’s slowly taking over the shop with catnip.” 

“It’s a popular buy this summer,” Will noted, absentmindedly, thinking about the man buying up their stock.

“Nico,” she called, leaning backwards away from the counter. “Come feed Hades!”

Following her gaze, Will could just barely make out a door tucked into the corner, nearly camouflaged into the wall. It had been covered with paintings, stringed up lights, and what looked like wind chimes.

The door opened fast enough that it looked out of place in the hazy, slow atmosphere of the shop. And then, stood across the room - 

Will blinked as Herb Boy manifested in the cozy corner of the shop, slouched as ever and almost blending into the dark, shadowy background of the room. 

“Oh,” he said, looking up at Will, blinking in surprise. “Hi.”

It was somehow more disorientating to see him in what could be his natural habitat. He didn’t seem out of place in the slightest in the darker corners of the bookshop. Will noted with increasing interest, bordering on distress, that his hair was tied in a small ponytail at the back of his head with what might have been a stick stuck through it. 

“I- flowers,” Will stammered, forcing his mind back to the task at hand. “I’m here delivering flowers.” He gestured helplessly behind himself to the small trolley he had drawn from down the street, before turning back to look resolutely at the cat, where it had curled up against his stomach. 

“Hazel, for god’s sake,” the man groaned. Will looked up at the woman across from him, and she grinned. “We don’t need more plants.”

“You keep hoarding your recent purchases in your bedroom,” she said, eyes still on Will. He had the distinct feeling that he had been drawn into a set up. 

“Have you met my cousin Nico, Will?”

Definitely a set up.

“I have,” he said, chancing another look up at Herb- Nico. He had perched on a counter at the back of the room, eyeing Will with a look he couldn’t place. 

“He’s come into the shop a few times,” he said, still talking. He felt a bit like he should leave, as soon as possible, but his mouth hadn’t caught up with the message, clearly. “He’s really raising the demand for catnip.”

Hazel laughed, and Will could just about make out a flush on the cheeks of the man at the back of the room. 

“Listen-” he started, but that just set his cousin off into more giggles. She waved her hand and stepped around him, moving past Will to his trolley to start lifting plants off of it and arranging them on shelves. 

“Can I-” Will started, but she shook her head, tight curls bouncing around her face as she did. He frowned, suddenly unsure what to do with his hands, and watched her quietly move the plants to different aisles.

“Did she pay for these already?” Nico asked, nodding at his cousin as she appeared to weigh up the best spot for a pot of marigolds. 

“Payment on delivery,” he said, shaking his head, and Nico hummed.

Will watched him turn and stretch up to grab for something on a shelf just out of his reach. His mouth went dry as his shirt lifted with him, showing the smallest sliver of pale skin on his hip.

“Is that a wand?” he asked, voice bursting out of him to distract himself. Nico jumped in surprise, and the book he had been fishing off the counter tumbled to the ground in a heavy heap. Will winced. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, but Nico waved him off. 

Will had seen his hand stray almost absentmindedly to whatever it was that was tucked into his hair at his outburst, and nodded at it. In response to Will’s apology, Nico pulled it out of the knot of his hair, dislodging a few strands so they fell around his face. His hair didn’t look that long, but, clearly, it was still long enough to be tied up.

But then Nico was handing him whatever he had been holding in his hands and Will grabbed it reflexively, glancing down at what he had in his grip. 

It was a fork. 

“This is a fork,” Will said, looking up at Nico, who shrugged.

“Yeah, I had it in my room and thought keeping it in my hair would make me remember to take it back downstairs.” 

“Did it?”

“Nope,” Nico said, popping the P at the end of the word, and Will laughed, incredulous. 

“So it can’t do magic?” he said, setting it down on the counter and nudging it towards Nico. In response, he wordlessly grabbed it and flicked his wrist towards an aisle at the edge of the shop, pointing the tongs in the direction of a display on local birds. 

Will heard someone shriek, and then; 

“For fuck’s sake, Nico!”

Nico just giggled, ducking back down to pick up the book that had dropped to the floor with a smile. Will watched him, feeling suddenly, distinctively, fond.

“What was that?” he asked. 

“Made a ceramic bird animate,” he said, and Will grinned. He leant forward onto the counter, quietly watching Nico as he thumbed through the filled up pages, leaving Will to his own straggling thoughts.

“I didn’t know you worked at a bookstore,” Will said, words floating through the quiet of the store as he watched Nico over the counter. He barely looked up from where he had started scribbling things down on the page. 

“Yeah, sometimes Italian immigrants just leave you a bookstore when they die,” he muttered, and Will laughed. 

“An Italian immigrant you know, I hope?” he said. Nico cracked a grin, glancing up once from where he had been writing. 

“My grandmother,” he said. “I inherited the whole place, and live in one of the upstairs rooms.”

“That sounds nice,” Will murmured. Living in a bookstore, complete with plants and a cat.

“It isn’t bad,” Nico said, and Will could just about see a smile on his face. He handed Will a bundle of money, and a handwritten receipt on top of it. 

“Can I get a name for this?” Will asked, pulling out the small notebook. Nico blinked. 

“Nico,” he said, after a beat. “Nico di Angelo."

Will paused, before folding his booklet up and putting it away, waiting for Nico to say something, anything - before sighing, and stepping back towards the door. 

“I’ll be seeing you-”

“It’s Will, right?” 

He blinked, looking at Nico from over the counter. He could see him chewing on the inside of his cheek. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it hadn’t been for Nico to remember his name.

“Yeah,” he said with a smile, breathing it out with gratitude he hadn’t been expecting. And Nico smiled back. “Will Solace.”

“It’s nice to meet you properly, Will.”

“Next weekend is Litha,” Nico said, gesturing to the assorted goods he had tossed on the counter before him. A new watering can, some orange blossoms, a pot of mint, a bag of warm hued stones. 

“Ah,” Will said, as if he had any idea what Litha was. He could pretend to impress a boy.

“The summer solstice,” Nico said, looking up at him with a grin. Will felt his cheeks warm with a flush.

“I knew that,” he grumbled, but Nico laughed, and that was a delightful sound that he could keep in his head for the rest of the summer.

Will watched from the corner of his eye as Nico turned to the side, gently touching his fingertips to the yellow petals of the sunflowers on display. 

“Do you want some of those?” he asked, and Nico glanced back at him, a look of surprise darting across his face. 

“No,” he said, slowly, almost cautiously. “I’m - I don’t need any.”

Will looked from Nico to the flowers, and frowned. And before he could rationalise it - 

“Hey-” Nico said, but Will was reaching over the counter and grasping at a few stalks, pulling the bright yellow blooms towards him. 

“It’s a gift,” he said, wrapping the sunflowers carefully and avoiding Nico’s eyes. 

“Will-”

“Happy Lethia.”

“ Litha ,” Nico said with a smile in his voice, and Will grinned. 

“What does Litha entail?” he asked, handing the sunflowers to Nico. He grasped the wrapped flowers between his hands carefully, like they were delicate and fragile and perfect. 

Will felt himself leaning forward, just barely realising he was gravitating towards the man before him in an effort to keep close. There were no other customers, at least - and if he was a bit late doing stock take, well, that was just how it was."

“Anything to welcome the start of summer,” Nico said, fingers fiddling with the parchment in his hands. “For me and Hazel it’s an all-nighter with cake and wine to watch the sunrise.”

Will laughed, surprised at the image of the two of them up all night, wine-drunk and delighted by cakes.

“That sounds like a great night.”

“It is,” Nico said with a soft smile. “I prefer the winter celebration, myself, but Litha’s fun too.”

Will nodded, watching Nico smile, body filling up with excitement and the bubbly delight of seeing this man happy.

“Do you need a hand walking this back?” he said, leaning into the sudden burst of energy with words spitting out like a splotch of paint on a canvas more disorganised than a Jackson Polluck painting. Nico’s eyes widened.

“It’s not far,” he said, a protest on his lips.

“Which is why it’s not a problem for me to help,” Will replied. 

“You really don’t have to-”

“I’ll get the trolley,” he said, stepping back, and Nico smiled, something soft and appreciative.

Annabeth said nothing as he ducked into the back room, only raising an eyebrow at him. He shrugged, moving around her to pull the trolley out from under the desk. 

“I need you to watch the front,” he said. 

“Going on a date?”

“Hush, you,” he muttered, and she laughed.

It had been a few weeks since he had delivered flowers to the bookstore. The rain had stopped, for the most part, although Will knew he could expect a few storms throughout the coming months. For the most part, though, his outdoor display was safe. And now, with the sun shining, just in time to welcome the height of the season.

Nico made him stop more than once, first for matches and flour from the supermarket, then a collection of jars from a thrift store, until he stopped outside of a residential home tucked away a few streets over from the bookstore. Will watched as he went up to the door, greeted a small old woman, and turned around, jar of honey clasped in his hands. 

Will watched, eyebrow raised as Nico ducked out of the house with a smile. 

“What?” he asked, eyeing Will where he stood, baffled, by the trolley. 

“Why did this woman give you honey?” he asked, exasperated, and surprised that the question wasn’t obvious. 

“I got her blueberry jam for a pie, once,” he replied, moving down the road, seemingly uncaring if Will followed.

“You make jam?”

“No,” Nico said, as if that was just as obvious. “I got it from the man living at the edge of the town for finding his cat.”

“With magic?”

“No, catnip.”

Will laughed, baffled, but he didn’t miss the soft grin making its way across Nico’s face.

In no time at all, they had returned to the bookstore, even if the sun was starting to make it’s slow, golden descent behind the tall buildings of the town centre. 

Will let Nico lead him into the shop, pulling his trolley along. Despite Nico’s initial protests, he had seemed to come back around to the benefit of it, and made good use of it, stacking up every one of his purchases at each of their stops. The golden sunflowers Will had given him, though, stayed held carefully in his arms.

“Hey, Hazel,” Will said, waving with his free hand at the woman behind the counter. She blinked, looking between him and her cousin, before her mouth spread out into a slow grin. 

“You should help run errands more,” Hazel said, leaning across the counter. “Nico’s never in this good a mood.”

“Stop that,” Nico muttered, and she laughed. 

“I’m going to be in the back room,” she said, pushing back from the counter and ducking into the back room, Hades in tow. 

“You can’t even help unpack?” Nico said, sounding affronted, but she just laughed again. 

“You’ve got magic,” she said. “And Will.”

“I don’t mind,” Will said with a smile. Nico just rolled his eyes, stretching over the front counter to reach for a pen and waving it in the vague direction of the trolley. Will startled as the bag of flour in his hands lost its weight all at once, suddenly light as air. Nico nodded, satisfied, and Will got to work moving the jars and bags and stacks of things off of the trolley, grinning to himself as Nico grumbled about his cousin.

Whereas the first time he had come in, the bookshop seemed dark, it now felt homely. Will had a feeling that it might just have been the company. It was far more cozy than cloying and clustered, and Will felt at ease. He was merely existing in the comfort of the cozy room while unpacked the trolley, stacking and layering Nico’s haul while the witch dug through his bag for something. 

He didn’t know how long they had spent organising the things Nico had collected on his day out, but soon enough, the trolley was empty. He could feel Nico looking at him, and he looked up, watching him chew at his lip as if he was thinking. 

“I’m making honey cake,” he said, finally, eyes darting to the things Will had neatly unpacked on the counter. He watched Nico’s eyes drag over the jars and stones and flour and honey.

“You could stay and help, if you want?” he continued, looking up at Will from under his eyelids but - that was probably just the height difference. He was just being polite. 

“I should get back,” Will said, fighting the voice in his head telling to stay, stay, stay! and Nico nodded, looking away from him with a pink tinge on his cheeks. But it was warm out, warm inside of the cozy, crowded bookstore, and Will reading into things, as he always did. 

“Sure,” Nico said. “Thanks for your help.”

“Any time,” Will replied, and he meant it so, so badly, more than he had ever meant anything before. 

And Nico nodded with a smile, a soft smile that might have just been for him, and Will saw himself out, stepping back through the bookcases with his trolley in tow until he was outside in the sun once more. 

He paused as he moved away from the windows, letting his feet carry him towards Sunshine Flowers. He let out a low, long breath, and felt his face flush, unrelated to the warm summer air. And then, a smile, breaking out across his face, threatening to lift him off the ground and throw him into the sun.

It was warm. There were birds. And Nico had smiled at him, and Will would see him again, and smile back. 

It was a good feeling.

  
  


###  **JULY**

June came and went, leaving the airy qualities associated with spring firmly behind. The solstice had happened, and night fell just that tiny bit sooner, but the days still felt long, dipped in a dark honey. 

It was also so humid that Will thought he might die. 

“You complain year round that it isn’t summer,” Annabeth said from her spot on the floor, looking at Will with something angry in her eyes. He’d be more scared if she didn’t look completely exhausted, as wrung out by the heat as he was. “Live with it.”

“But usually the air conditioner works,” Will whined, flopped over the front counter, hating the way his skin stuck to the top of it.

Annabeth grumbled, saying something that sounded rude, but Will wasn’t listening. 

“I’m going to get ice cream,” he said instead, pushing himself up and groaning at the way his skin peeled off the plastic. 

The day outside wasn’t much nicer than the stifling air of  _ Sunshine Flowers,  _ but there was a faint breeze, and that was something. 

The street the shop was on was pedestrianised, tables from cafes set up on the cobbled pavement and merchandise from each shop taking up space for potential customers to dip around. I t was bustling, and Will absorbed the chatter and smiles like he was a flower blooming in the sun. 

He paused at the end of the walkway where the road began and cars drove past. 

He could see the supermarket from where he stood, with the promise of functional air conditioning and ice cream. The urge to step off the cobblestone walkway and keep moving through the different streets of the town was there all at once in a moment, and his feet kept moving. 

He knew where he was going, where his feet were taking him, and knew it wasn’t as unconscious as he might want it to be. But then he was there, stood outside of Nico’s bookstore, and his traitorous heart thumped in his chest. 

He stepped in through the door, instantly delighted by the cool air among the mahogany shelves as he sunk into the dark shadows. 

Nico looked up from behind the counter as he walked in, smiling at him when he caught his eye. He tucked a slip of paper into the book he had been reading, nudging it to the side and looking ready to give Will his full attention as he moved through the shop to the counter. 

“You’re going to get heat stroke one day,” Will commented, leaning forward on the counter with a grin. Nico was dressed head to toe in dark clothes, still wearing a hooded black sweater and, if Will could see correctly, heavy boots. He hated the way the bare skin of his forearms stuck to the lacquered wooden top, but would take it any day over wearing a hoodie in weather like this. 

“I’m not going to get heat stroke,” Nico said with a huff, and Will rolled his eyes. 

It seemed as if the bookshop was immune to the cloying heat of the summer day outside. It should have been a struggle to ventilate the room, considering the size and placement of the doors, but Will could feel a light breeze on the back of his neck, carrying the light scent of lilac and honeysuckle. 

“Where’s the breeze coming from?” he asked, thoughts flickering from thought to thought. “Do you have a garden?”

“We do, but the breeze is an enchantment. Cheaper than AC.”

“That is so cool,” Will said, voice enraptured. Out of the corner of his eye, Will could tell Nico’s cheeks had a flush on them, but he was still distracted by the breeze against his face, coming from nowhere. 

“Is anything else enchanted?” he asked, turning back to Nico, who blinked. 

“I- we’ve enchanted our keys so we don’t lose them,” he said, and even that was  _ so cool -  _

“I lose things all the time,” Will said. “I would die for a charm like that. Is it difficult?” 

Nico grinned, looking at Will wordlessly, and he flushed, feeling distinctly like he was being  _ distracting  _ once again. 

“Sorry,” he muttered, but Nico waved him off. Instead, he reached wordlessly for the ruler propped up against the cash machine and waved it absently before him. 

Behind him, in the flutter of the enchanted breeze, he could hear movement, and when he turned the shop burst to life. Will gasped. 

A number of books on the shelves just behind him had risen up out of their places, floating up in the air as if on strings, their pages fluttering with their gentle movements. 

He could feel Nico’s eyes on him, but couldn’t draw his gaze away from the movement of the books as they dipped and ducked and weaved through the air. It was almost as if the scent of lilac and honeysuckle had grown stronger, blown around the room by the enchanted breeze, and now by the gentle, almost hypnotic movement of the floating books.

And then in a second the books were flying back to their place on the shelf, bar one, which dropped towards the floor. Will shot his hand out, catching it in his outstretched hands. He glanced back over his shoulder, looking at Nico. He was smiling, and moved his hand again, and when Will looked at his hands the book he had been holding became a potted plant with a small  _ pop! _

Will stared, wordless, down at the object in his hands. It looked like basil, but at the same time almost like parsley, even though it had the distinct scent of small summer blossoms.

“I’ve been studying up on plant properties,” Nico said, drawing Will’s attention away for a moment. “Still not perfect, though.”

“It’s absolutely amazing,” Will said, voice soft. 

“Yeah,” Nico said, and Will glanced back. His eyes were downturned, looking back at the cover of the book he had been reading, but he was smiling, and Will smiled too. 

  
  
  
  
  


Will knew that, strictly speaking, it wasn’t professional to sit sprawled out on the cool floor to do his work, but he was too warm to care. 

The shop had been empty for the majority of the day, with most would-be customers preferring to wander the breezy streets rather than the stuffy shop Will was contractually obliged to stay in. It did, however, mean that he was surprised to hear the jingle of the bell as the door opened and a gust of wind blew into the shop. 

“Is this a new way for Annabeth to motivate her employees?” a voice asked, and Will turned his head up towards the ceiling. Nico grinned at him from his spot in the aisle, still bafflingly dressed in jeans and a hooded sweater. Will could see a faint flush on his cheeks.

“We still don’t have AC,” Will moaned, feeling the petulant urge to flop fully down on the linoleum until he was lying prostrate on the floor. He resisted, but just barely. 

“I’ve been running errands all day in the weather. If I can manage, so can you.”

“What are you after?” Will asked, pushing himself up to stand and grabbing the watering can he had been using in an attempt to rescue the parched plants on the floor.   


“More catnip, if you have any,” Nico said, glancing around the shop. 

“Sure thing. Hades getting bored of the plants you already have?”

“Listen, he’s a very fickle-”

Nico cut himself off, words trailing off abruptly into silence. Will glanced up at the quiet. Nico blinked a few times, like he was clearing his vision. It was a look Will associated with standing up too fast, when everything suddenly started spinning.

“Are you okay?” Will asked, a flicker of concern sparking in the pit of his stomach.

“I’m fine,” he said, but his voice had a breathy, unfocused quality to it. 

“Are you sure? You don’t look-”

And then Nico was stumbling forward, dropping like a stone towards the floor. 

Will dipped forward in a lunge, dropping the watering can with a clatter that sent water raining across the ground, and the metal container bouncing across the floor.

“Jesus,” he muttered, tugging Nico upwards with hands under his shoulders until he was mostly standing again. He felt  _ warm,  _ and Will could feel him shaking.

“Will, what the fuck-” He heard Annabeth as she moved into the room, pausing at the doorway behind the counter. “Did you kill a customer?” 

“Annabeth,” he said, shooting a glare over the shoulder, arm resting gently below Nico’s shoulder blades. “Just - watch the shop while I make sure he doesn’t die.”

“I’m fine,” Nico muttered. Will scoffed, slowly bringing him through the shop to the back room.

“Do you eat anything? You’re as light as a head of lettuce.”

“That’s not anything anyone says,” Nico said. Will was at least relieved that he was in a state where he had the clarity of mind to be a dick.

“I told you you would get heat stroke,” Will murmured as he dropped Nico onto a chair in the back of the shop. He rolled his eyes. 

Again - at least he was conscious. 

“You have to take off some of your clothes,” he said. Nico grinned, something that looked halfway to a laugh, but he was clearly still exhausted.

“Forward of you,” he muttered, and now it was Will’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Yes, all of  _ that  _ is part of the first aid process.” 

“Are you sure you know first aid?” Nico said, but moved anyway to pull off his sweater anyway. 

Pulling his sweater over his head dislodged whatever it was that had been holding his hair back. The messy waves of his dark hair started to fall around his face, and Will turned away. He felt warm and, once again, cursed the lack of air conditioning. 

“I’m training to be a doctor, so I better,” he said instead, letting himself fall into the quiet of the room while moving to hunt for something cool to drink in the mini fridge under Annabeth’s desk. It was only when he realised it had been a significant stretch of time since Nico said something snarky, did he look back.

“Are you really?” Nico asked. Will blinked at him, surprised to see Nico looking surprised. 

“Training to be a doctor?” he said. Nico nodded. “Yeah. I’m almost qualified. I work part time during the school year, but full time each summer.”

Nico hummed, taking in the information. He watched Nico absentmindedly brush his hair away from his face, and his face grew warm at the thought of running his hand gently through his hair - 

“I’m going to walk you home,” Will said, voice louder than necessary, in an effort to distract himself as much as it was to get Nico’s attention. When he looked up, Will thrust a cold bottle of water at him, waving it at him until he took it.

“I can make my own way home, Will,” he said, but there was no energy in his voice as he said it.

“Nope,” Will said, pushing himself to stand and handing Nico a cold drink. “Doctor’s orders.” 

“You’re completely ridiculous,” he said, but took the drink anyway.

Will grinned, and moved to help Nico stand. He had had some water, and at the very least, he had stopped shaking. He even seemed to stand without looking like the world was spinning as he stood, and that was something.

He was at a loss with what to do with his hands while Nico pulled his hair down, and he thought he might die watching Nico run his hands through his messy waves absentmindedly. And then he was tying it back up and Will felt so impossibly warm and maybe he was also coming down with heat exhaustion, even in his stupid cargo shorts. 

Trying his best to let him stand himself, Will helped Nico slowly shuffle out of the shop front and onto the bright, sunny street. His sweater was clutched gently in his hand as he moved along the pavement, leaving him only in a faded  _ Ramones  _ t-shirt that looked about two sizes two big on him. 

They paused at the road as it came up, letting cars drive past and blow a gentle breeze past, ruffling their hair. Absently, Will looked up towards the supermarket to their side, glancing into the air conditioned store front.

“Hang on,” he murmured, ducking back a few steps and into the cold air before Nico could say anything. He heard him exclaim something in confusion, maybe frustration, before his pattering footsteps followed.

“Will, what are you-”

“Pick one,” Will said, cutting him off with a sweeping gesture to the freezer full of popsicles. Nico raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you want ice cream or not?”

Nico rolled his eyes, but moved closer until he was standing next to Will, leaning forward to look at his options. In the chilly air of the refrigerated aisle of the store, Will was hyper aware of the heat of his body next to him. It was completely and utterly distracting.

But then Nico was reaching into the cooler and pulling out a chocolate ice cream and nodding. Will smiled, reaching in after and pulling one out for himself.

He picked the ice cream out of Nico’s hands, ignoring his protests as he paid, before giving in and returning the popsicle when they made it back into the sun. 

There was the slightest bit of a breeze, at least, which explained why Nico hadn’t passed out in his morning of running errands, until he entered the stifling, sweltering plant shop. And he had the breeze enchantment in the book shop -

“Why didn’t you just enchant your clothes to keep you cool?” Will asked, breaking the silence. Belatedly, he realised it seemed a bit out of the blue, but the thought process made sense to him. He looked pointedly at Nico, who tried in turn to avoid his eyes. 

“Listen,” he started, and Will felt a smile curl across his face. “That’s a lot of clothes to enchant.”

“Really? I swear I’ve only ever seen you in the same three sweaters-”

“Oh, hush,” Nico said, glaring up at Will, but he could see a grin fighting it’s way onto his face. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Will entered the shop the next morning to something delightful.

The night had brought a bit of a chill, but the beauty was in the sight of an air conditioner repair van outside the shop. He almost cried when he entered the shop. For the first time in what felt like weeks, Will felt like he could stand upright for most of the day, without too much suffering.

He felt like he could  _ think,  _ and wasn’t that beautiful. 

It was, except for the fact he could now overthink.

There was an obvious place to start. 

He spent most of his morning leant on the front counter, absently planning out arrangements while thinking about dark wavy hair and olive skin, a smiling face and deep brown eyes. 

_ Was he in love?  _

He rolled his eyes at himself. The downside of being a florist was a desire to see the romanticism of every, even and especially a part time job in a plant shop. 

But there was something. He couldn’t deny that there was  _ something.  _ Something that made his heart flutter and his stomach swoop whenever Nico rolled his eyes at him and laughed, because of something he had done. 

He felt a curl of something almost like anxiety swirling around his gut. If he knew what Nico was thinking, what was going through his head, it might be different. But there was every chance Will was reading into it, and that wouldn’t do him any good. 

“Delivery,” Annabeth called, startling Will out of his thoughts none too gently as she popped her head out of the back office.

“The bookstore?” he asked, perking up before realising how completely  _ telling  _ it was -

Annabeth seemed to agree, if the grin of delight stretching across her face was anything to go by. 

“Pet store,” she said, still smiling wide. Will grumbled.

“Why can’t you do it?” he said, frowning and turning back to the sketched arrangement he had been designing. “Or get your boyfriend to pick up his own damn plants.”

“As if he’d do that,” she said.

“Can’t you just bring them to his apartment next time you stay over?” he asked, glancing up at her with something pitiful in his eyes. He had been enjoying his daydreams, but she shook her head. 

“They’re for the shop, you whiny man. I swear-”

He rolled his eyes, grabbing the slip of paper out of her hand and trying to parse out her handwriting. 

“Does he want caramels? Or-”

“ _ Camellias, _ ” Annabeth said, and Will just snickered, ducking back under the counter and hunting for a selection of flours to bring across the street. 

The pet store across the road had a delightful green storefront, painted with puppies and kittens and turtles. The amount of water left out for dogs on walks and local cats was abundant, and Will stepped neatly past a small terrier lapping it up on his way in. 

“Delivery,” he called, waltzing into the shop and heading for the counter. A grinning face popped out from behind a shelf aisle at the furthest end of the store, dark hair flopping over dark bronze skin.

“Hey, Will,” Percy said, ducking around the shelves. As he moved into Will’s line of sight, he could see that he had been splattered with water and something that looked a bit like bird seed. 

“I’ve been feeding the fish,” he said, gesturing to his shirt as if that explained everything. In a way, it kind of did. 

“I have some camellias for you,” Will said, and Percy grinned, looking at the plants in his hand with a look of complete delight, like a child on Christmas. “Have you already-”

He paused, eye catching on something just over Percy’s shoulder as he moved to take the plants from him. On the shelf behind him, next to pouches of cat treats and fluffy, feathery toys, were plants, with spiked green leaves. 

Will was only vaguely aware of Percy turning over his shoulder as he moved towards the cat supplies, gently touching one of the plastic plant pots on the side of the aisle. 

“How long have you stocked catnip?” he asked, feeling Percy’s eyes on him. 

“Uh- a while?” Percy said. Will could feel the confusion radiating off him. He probably just wanted his camellias. “We’re a pet store. Why do you ask?”

“We’ve had increased sales,” he muttered, shaking himself out of the weird cloudy feeling in his head.

“Oh is that your Herb Boy?” Percy asked, grin stretching over his face. Will fought not to groan. “Annabeth mentioned him.”

“I don’t have an  _ herb boy,” _ Will muttered. Percy only laughed, waving his hand. 

“I’m leaving,” he said, and barely suppressed the urge to stomp his foot. “Take your damn camellias.”

“Ooh, maybe I should tell Annabeth-”

“What are we telling Annabeth?” 

Will rolled his eyes as another face popped around the corner. Leo grinned, messy brown curls flopping forward into his eyes. 

“Will’s in love,” Percy supplied. 

“Will’s in love?” a third voice chimed, and Will groaned. A figure moved up behind him, and he turned to glare over his shoulder at Frank as he moved up the aisle, appearing to have come into the shop quietly from his lunch break. 

“Will’s in love!” Leo crowed, with a laugh. 

“I hate all of you,” Will said, and Percy and Leo kept snickering. “Pay for your damn plants, Jackson.” 

He knew that his face was still flushing bright red, even by the time he returned to  _ Sunshine Flowers _ , and he pointedly ignored Annabeth’s smug grin when she saw him walk in.

Avoiding her gaze, and determined to stop blushing, Will snagged a watering can from the back counter and started making the rounds of the shop to make sure that nothing died. 

It was a task that meant he could clear his head, and ignore the fact that someone at the pet store had told Nico they didn’t stock catnip, and sent him to Will. 

_ That was too on the nose for any of them, wasn’t it?  _

Unless - 

He sighed. It was a pointless train of thought that would only lead him in circles. He was overthinking everything, as usual.

The door opened with a jingle when Will had moved on to watering the shop’s collection of ferns, and he looked up without much thought, before promptly choking on his own breath.

“I forgot the catnip,” Nico announced as he walked through the door, but Will was dumbstruck, staring at the witch as he walked towards him.

Nico was dressed in summer clothes.

The jeans were… perhaps too torn up to be ‘jeans’. Will could see an obscene amount of Nico’s legs, nd he had on a black tie-dyed t-shirt, with sleeves short enough to show off the fact that he did, in fact, have muscles, and  _ tattoos,  _ for god’s sake - 

“You’re at work,” Will hissed to himself, turning away with a flush on his cheek to stare stubbornly at the ferns before him.

“What was that?” Nico asked and suddenly he was there, next to Will, and Will gave up his attempt at ever being even slightly cool. 

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you in tie-dye,” he said, ignoring Nico’s question. He didn’t seem to mind. 

Will would go get the catnip, soon. Soon. Let him live a bit.

“We got drunk and tie-dyed some shirts with bleach,” he said with a shrug, looking down at his shirt and picking it off his skin like he was investigating it. 

“I’m terrified about the premise of you drunk with bleach,” Will said, and Nico grinned.

“No one died,” he said. “And we avoided getting any on Hades. All in all, a success.”

“I’m glad your cat is safe,” Will said, and Nico smiled, a wider smile that looked far from tiny, or insignificant. Will’s heart thumped, and he felt a smile curling around his face as he was warmed up from the inside, doubt from the previous ten minutes gone in a flash. 

“Catnip,” he said, drawing himself back forcibly to the matter at hand. Nico almost looked like he faltered, the grin dropping off his face softly.

“Yeah,” was all he said, stepping back to let Will lead the way to the herbs, as if he had no idea where they were.

  
  


The summer was slowly but surely starting to move away, coming to a close with a quiet whisper. The trees had been at their most vivid green and now, with some hesitation, they were beginning to lighten. It wasn’t yet Autumn but, before he could blink, it would be time for Will to shift the stock and bring out Halloween decorations. 

Will sighed, leaning against the open door frame and looking out at the busy street. The outdoor display was thriving, safe from wind and rain at this time of year, but that too would have to come in soon. 

He was drawn from his introspection by the sight of a man dressed head to toe in black moving through their outdoor display. 

“Nico,” Will said, feeling a grin tear across his face in an instant. 

That had been happening, more. 

He knew that the hammering of his heart and the incessant smiling wasn’t  _ normal,  _ at least in the sense of how he might feel towards his customers. He knew that Nico was special, and - 

It wasn’t love, but it was something. 

“What can I get you?” he asked, as if forcing himself to treat Nico like any other customer would make this whole thing easier to navigate. 

“I’m here for sunflowers, actually,” Nico said, nodding at the yellow flowers beside the counter. “And some mint.”

“An occasion?” Will asked. He had an unfettered amount of curiosity about everything Nico did, not least of all for the festivals and celebrations he seemed to need endless plants for. All he wanted to do was sit him down and find out everything about his life. Not normal customer things, but about his life. What he liked, what he didn’t. 

Not anything Will was used to dealing with.

“Lammas,” he said. “It’s the first of August, and we-”

He was cut off by a sharp ringing from his pocket. He blinked, as if he too had been surprised to be cut off, and sheepishly pulled his phone out of his pocket.

“Oh, fuck,” he said, blinking down at his phone. He looked up at Will with regret in his. “I- I’m really sorry, I have to go.”

“Is everything okay?” Will asked, all of a sudden nervous, and wanting more than anything to hear what Nico had been about to say.

“Yeah,” Nico said, brushing him off casually. Probably nothing life threatening, then. “I forgot I had a reading with someone today.”

“A tarot reading?” he asked, and Nico nodded. 

“Tell you what - if you deliver these later, I can do you one? A reading, that is,” he said, looking up at Will with something that his traitorous mind took to be  _ hope.  _

But sue him for having a heart, he  _ hoped.  _

He smiled, fingers resting gently against the paper of the sunflowers he had just wrapped. 

“That sounds really nice,” he said, and Nico grinned. 

“Great. I’ll see you, then,” Nico said with a soft smile still on his face, that Will had to fight not to mirror. 

And so, as the clock turned to 7, Will found himself ducking out of the shop with his stuff packed and plants in hand. There would still be light for an hour yet, and Will basked in the golden glow of a summer evening.

At Nico’s instruction, he ducked around the main shop front, closed for the night, and slipped down the small alley between buildings. There was a lattice gate at the end, and Will pushed it open with some force to get it to come unstuck. 

He could see Hades curled up on a soft looking patio chair, but the garden before him was quiet, and empty.

“Nico?” he called, glancing around once more to check he hadn’t missed him. Unless he had the wrong time - 

“In the kitchen,” a voice called, cutting his thoughts off before they could spiral. Will’s eyes followed the sound of it to the door to the house, thrown open wide and stopped with a heavy clay pot. He stepped forward, looking into the room. 

Nico stood over the stove with his back to the door. Will could just about make out another fork stuck into his hair over the short ponytail at the nape of his neck as he slouched at the stovetop, stirring something absently. 

Will watched the muscles of his shoulders shift under his t-shirt, something flowy with long sleeves, although the ends of the sleeves had been rolled up and tied around his elbows. Will could see more ink peeking out from under them along Nico’s forearms, and was struck once more by how much of this man there was to see and learn about and admire.

And then he turned, blinking in surprise as he caught sight of Will. 

“Hey,” he said, eyes meeting Will’s and making him blush. “Have a seat. Can I get you anything?”

Will shook his head, stepping through the door and over the threshold. He hadn’t ever been in this part of the building, only the shop front, but it was about as cozy and magical as he’d expect. The wooden furniture had a dark varnish on it, making the dried flowers and potted herbs around the room pop with bright, vibrant colours. Looking around, Will could recognise most, if not all, of the ceramic and clay pots, as ones stocked by _ Sunshine Flowers. _

“Give me a second to finish this, and I’ll be with you,” Nico said, and Will nodded, sitting down at the kitchen table. He could see a stack of cards at the side of the table, on a board of white wood and a rich red fabric square. It was a struggle to keep his hands to himself, but he managed, still looking around the room in wonder. 

“How did the reading go?” he asked, fighting the urge to ask about the ornaments and tokens hung up around the room. There were wind chimes, garlands, bells, dried flowers - 

“It was fine,” Nico said with a shrug, still at the stovetop, but he looked to be finishing up whatever it was he had been working on. “They were convinced their husband was cheating on them, but I think he’s just busy planning a proposal.” 

“You could tell from the cards?” Will asked, in amazement. Nico looked over his shoulder with a grin, but shook his head. 

“Not magic, just observant,” he said, and Will flushed. “But I did get them to avoid hiring a private investigator.”

“Nico di Angelo, working for the people,” Will said quietly with a grin, and Nico laughed. He finally turned off the stove, moving the pot with some visible effort and setting it aside. 

“What’s that for?” Will asked, nodding at it. 

“It’s for Lammas,” Nico said. “We celebrate harvests, so it’s basically just cider.”

Will grinned. “I didn’t know you were running an amateur brewery, Nico.”   
  
He was delighted to see Nico flush, but he turned away to turn off the overhead light, dropping them into near darkness. The sky had begun to duck behind clouds, and even with the lamp on the counter still on, the room was dark. With the flick of a switch, the room became  _ intimate.  _

“We celebrate the fruits of our labours,” Nico said, voice quiet, low, as he sat down across from him. Will swallowed, drawn into the tone of his voice as he pulled a lighter out of his jeans and lit a few candles scattered around the table top.

“Ready?” he asked, glancing up at Will, who could nothing but nod, silent. 

“It’s a three card spread,” Nico began, hands moving the stack of cards towards him and laying the fabric and wooden board between them on the table. “The first card goes in the centre, and represents what you need to let go of in order to grow.”

His hands abruptly stopped moving, handing the deck to Will over the board. He took it, automatically. 

“Can you shuffle it?” he asked, and Will complied, enraptured by the man before him. 

“What about the other two cards?” he asked, picking up the cards, cutting the deck, and starting to shuffle.

“They represent what you can expect to harvest if you manage to grow,” Nico said, and Will nodded. 

“You have to ask a question,” he continued, looking up at Will. Will faltered, unsure where to even begin. 

“What do I have to do to grow?” he asked, parroting Nico’s words back at him and cringing internally at how completely  _ stupid  _ he sounded. But Nico didn’t say anything, only nodding once as he took the cards back and letting his eyelids flutter shut as he breathed out slowly. 

He pulled a card from the deck, hands moving flawlessly, naturally, faster than Will had been expecting, and flipped it over onto the fabric between them. 

Will peered at the card between them. There was a man and a lion, against a golden backdrop with trees in the distance, but it was upside down, facing Nico. He could just about make out the word  _ Strength  _ written at the bottom. Will stared at it, drawn into the art before him. 

“So I need to - let go of strength?” he asked, glancing back up at Nico.

“No,” Nico said, rolling his eyes with humour on his face. “It’s not that literal. Also, it’s upside down for you, so you reverse the meaning.”

“Ah,” Will said, nodding. “I need to let go of being a weak ass-”

“Again, not that literal,” Nico said, cutting him off with a definite smile on his face. “I would interpret it as doubt, insecurity. Let go of that to move forward.”

“Well, you’re the witch,” Will muttered, but he could feel his chest fluttering. “What next?”

“Another question,” Nico prompted. Will paused, trying to remember what the next two cards were for. 

“What does the future hold for me?” he finally asked, feeling embarrassed at the hesitance in his voice, but Nico only nodded. 

And then he had pulled out two cards faster than Will was able to keep track of, placing them on either side of the one he had already upturned and flipped them over for Will to see. 

Will blinked down at them. 

The one on the left was simple enough, with simple script at the bottom designating it as The Sun. He could see a sun, for sure, and an abundance of yellow flowers that he presumed were sunflowers, circling two small cherubic figures. 

The other was Death. 

He could see a robed skeletal figure on horseback, surrounded by grey, barren branches and a cloudy sky. 

“Are your cards threatening me?” he asked, looking up at Nico, who broke out into soft giggles. 

“No,” he said, moving the rest of the deck to the side and leaning over the cards he had pulled. “Death represents change, or beginnings. And anyway, The Sun is all about joy and celebration, so you’re probably fine.” 

Will smiled, looking at Nico intently watching the cards before them. He looked like he was focusing, trying to parse out the meaning of the spread before them. He opened his mouth a few times and Will waited patiently, but in the end he just nodded and scooped all the cards back up. 

“Can I look through them?” Will asked, curiosity bubbling up and getting the better of him. Nico grinned, handing him the cards again and gesturing for him to do what he liked. They were beautifully drawn, with flowing ink illustrations and shining gold embellishment. 

“They’re stunning-”

He fumbled them, grip automatically tightening around them lest they fall too close to the lit candles. A card flipped out from the deck, landing face up between them on the table. He could see two figures on it, wrapped up in each other with lush greenery all around them. Written neatly on the bottom of the card:  _ The Lovers. _

“You shouldn’t ignore a card that flips out,” Nico said, voice quiet, looking up at Will and catching his eye. Will looked at him, into his dark brown eyes, and felt like he was going to suffocate with the intensity of the man before him, and what he did to him on a daily basis. 

“Okay,” he said, and his throat felt dry, like he was going to drown, or like he’d been screaming. “What does it mean?”

Nico cleared his throat, finally tearing his gaze away from Will’s, and he hated to see it go. 

“Well, relationships. Love, in any form, or unions,” he said, looking down at the card between them. Will could see him itching to fidget, and felt much the same, but then his eyes were back up and meeting Will’s and it was a shock he had ever managed to look away. 

“It also signifies choices,” he said, and Will nodded, like he was possessed by all the words Nico was saying to him now. 

“Choices,” Will repeated, and Nico nodded.

“You always have a choice on something,” he said. He wasn’t wrong, Will reasoned, but the only choice he could see before him was Nico. One way or another, it would be Nico, and that didn’t feel like a choice at all. 

Not that Will minded, not in the least.

“I-”

He was cut off by a loud crack of thunder, and he jumped. Both he and Nico turned their heads to the window, and in an instant the view was drowned out by falling rain. He could hear the clacking of hail on the windowsill, even above the drone of the oncoming storm. 

“You can’t go home in this,” Nico said, drawing his attention back to him. Will’s breath caught. 

“Are you sure?” he asked, voice almost squeaking. Nico only rose an eyebrow, glancing quickly at the window before looking back at him.

He wasn’t asking for anything. He couldn’t know what thoughts were spiralling through Will’s brain at every hour of the day, when he was around Nico. 

_ Choices.  _

“Okay,” he said, voice faint. “I can stay until it calms down.”

Nico’s mouth twitched, just barely a smile, and  _ god,  _ Will knew he would have done anything to know that he could lean forward and kiss him, right here, right now, in Nico’s dark kitchen.

And he realised that he  _ could.  _ He could lean forward over the table and duck his head and press a kiss to his lips and it would be  _ so good,  _ if only he knew that that was what Nico wanted. 

But he didn’t. 

He almost groaned. Even with Nico sat just across from him, looking up, he had no idea what was going on inside his head. And that was the problem, wasn’t it? 

But he wanted to,  _ god  _ he wanted to, so badly.

If only he knew what was going on inside his head.

He stayed the night. 

Hazel had come down not long after, not surprised to see Will in her kitchen, and she smiled, offering to make them cocoa, or to start dinner. In the end they settled for cocoa, bringing steaming mugs upstairs to their lounge room and curling under blankets while the storm raged on above them. 

He woke up the next morning to bright sunlight curling through dusty curtains and sat up, stretching from a night spent on a borrowed sofa. He grinned at the memory, before catching sight of the grandfather clock above a fireplace and realised he was going to be late to work. 

“I’ve got work,” he spit out as he stumbled through the shop front, making Hazel jump. 

“Are you leaving?” Nico asked, looking over the counter. He was stood on a step ladder, adjusting books on the top shelf of a display.

“Yeah,” he said, and he hated to rush out on them, after the evening they had had. “I’m really sorry.” 

“You should come over this weekend for Lammas,” Hazel said. Will spun his head towards her, and caught sight of Nico doing the same from the corner of his eye. 

“What?” he asked. 

“Hazel-” Nico continued, but Hazel cut him off, addressing Will directly. 

“We were talking about inviting people over anyway,” she said. Will glanced at Nico surreptitiously; he was flushed, but didn’t deny it. “And I think you should come. I’m already inviting some friends.” 

“I-” Will began, looking between the two of them. “Is that really okay?” 

“Of course,” Hazel said. “Right, Nico?”

Will turned to look at him, facing him properly. The flush hadn’t left his face, but he nodded, glancing at Will and then looking away as fast.    


“Yeah,” he said. “You should come.” 

Will felt his face warm, and nodded. He had almost forgotten that he was running late, but couldn’t find it in himself to rush out. 

“Okay,” he said, finally. “I’ll see you this weekend.”

His eyes stayed on Nico, and he nodded, face still red, brown eyes still on him. With those eyes on him, he moved towards the door, and out into the sun.

  
  
  


###  **AUGUST**

The weekend saw the start of a new month, and Will had a welcome day off. 

Annabeth had teased him mercilessly for stumbling into work late in the same clothes as the day before, but didn’t mark it down on the rota, for which he was grateful. 

He tried to remember how grateful he was for her as he lay on his bed upside down, hair flopping towards the floor, as he read through the messages she had sent him. 

_ From: Annabeth (1:20pm)  _

TELL HIM YOU LOVE HIM

_ From: Annabeth (1:23pm)  _

Percy says you should bring him roses

_ From: Annabeth (1:23pm)  _

(he also says hello)

_ From: Annabeth (1:24pm)  _

(also i agree about the roses)

He groaned, dropping his phone gently on the floor beside his head. She wasn’t even being helpful, and hadn’t replied to his original question asking what he should wear to see Nico this evening. Why was he even friends with her? 

There were a few hours yet until he was expected at Nico’s, and he passed most of it avoiding his phone and avoiding his thoughts, until there was nothing left to do but get dressed in  _ something  _ and make his way over. 

He pushed the gate open with a soft shove to a bustling scene. He could see Frank and Leo, from the pet shop, looking like they were digging through bottles of what he could only assume was the drink Nico had been making the other day. Hazel was stood next to them, giving them directions, or complaining. It was unclear.

And just on the other side of the gate, a few feet from where he was now stood - 

“Oh,” he said, blinking at the sight of Annabeth. She grinned when he saw her. He could see her perched on the arm of a chair Percy sat on, where he was leaning his head against her side. They were both dressed down, likely both having come directly from work. 

“I didn’t know you knew anyone here,” he continued. 

“I’m pretty close with Hazel,” she said, a glimmer in her eye. Will’s face scrunched up. He  _ knew  _ they had been plotting something together. He was surprised he hadn’t seen it sooner. 

“Will!” a voice called, and then Hazel was bounding up behind Annabeth with a grin on her face. She looked more summery than he had ever seen her, and delighted to see him. 

“Hi, Hazel,” he said with a smile. “Where’s Nico?”

“Still in his room working on something,” she groaned, rolling her eyes. “He refuses to tell me what.” 

“Sounds like someone should go get him,” Annabeth said, and Will had never been more certain that she was colluding with Hazel. He glared at her. 

“Will, can you go?” Hazel asked, and he fought not to glare at her too. 

“Fine,” he muttered, after realising he wouldn’t be part of any conversation until he did. And besides - 

He wanted to see Nico. 

He groaned, feeling completely pathetic as he turned with more drama than the situation warranted, to head into the building. He vaguely knew the layout, from his stay earlier that week. Downstairs was the shop floor, storage and the kitchen, with the living room and bedrooms on the floor above. 

He ducked onto the stairwell and climbed, ducking through the cramped upper hallway until he came to a door at the end of it. It was propped open just a tiny bit, and Will stepped forward, peering through to see if it was Nico’s room.

He fought not to gasp.

The only thing obvious through the crack of the door was that the room was  _ covered  _ in plants. 

He had seen a fair few pots he recognised from  _ Sunshine Flowers  _ in the kitchen _ ,  _ but it was so glaringly clear that every item Nico had ever bought from his was here, in this room. He could see a metal watering can, an array of brightly coloured stones, and catnip, and basil and lavender and patchouli, and on the window sill next to the figure hunched over the desk, a bright, beautiful, blooming array of sunflowers.

But it didn’t stop there, and the more Will looked the more he saw. 

There were lights floating in the air, blinking, glittering and moving like fireflies. He had no idea what they were, but it was so, so obvious that they were magic. Wafting out from the room was a gentle breeze, carrying notes of honeysuckle and lilac on it. 

“Nico,” he said, voice quiet, hesitant, almost reverent, as he pushed the door open a little bit further. He didn’t want to break his concentration, or take him out of this perfect world he had created. 

He saw Nico look up from his desk, turning and blinking in confusion even as he spotted Will.

“Will?” 

“I’ve come to collect you,” he announced, moving through the room carefully towards Nico and glancing over his shoulder.  “What are you working on?” 

“Oh,” Nico said, looking back at the desk. His voice was quiet. “I- made you something,” 

Will could sense the hesitation in his voice, but, carefully, he picked up what he had been working on and passed it gently to Will. 

It was heavier than he was expecting, but what became abundantly clear was that it was charged with something  _ powerful.  _ Will blinked in surprise at the weight of it, running his fingers over it. 

In his hand he held a black stone, with wire twisted to wrap around it. There were yellow tassels knotted tightly around it, dangling softly from the stone. And at the top, was a loop, that he figured could be used to tie it to something, or attach it to a necklace. 

“It’s enchanted hematite,” Nico said. “You said you misplace things a lot, and this should help.” 

Will was thrown back to a throwaway comment he had made weeks ago, something he hardly remembered saying. 

But Nico had remembered.

And Will didn’t know what that  _ meant. _

“Nico,” Will said, voice quiet. This was the most thoughtful thing anyone had given him, not even beginning to think about the fact it was a magically enchanted item made especially for him. And it was beautiful, with perfectly chosen colours and a slight glitter on the stone.

“Thank you,” he said, trying to sound as earnest as he could, knowing that it could never do it justice. 

“I have a cord, if you want to tie it to a necklace,” he said, and Will nodded, suddenly certain that that was  _ exactly  _ what he wanted. 

Nico nodded in turn, standing up to dig through a set of drawers next to his desk. Eventually he pulled out a length of cord, gently taking the charm back from Will and looping the cord through it.

“Turn around,” he murmured, and Will obliged, turning his back to Nico and ducking his head forward. Gently, he felt Nico loop the cord around his neck, so the stone rest gently on him. His hand came up to gently touch the stone, feeling the cool metal against his sternum. 

“Thank you,” he said again, moving to face Nico once more with a grin. He was full of so much appreciation for the man before him, for what he had brought to his summer without even realising. He wanted to - 

“Shall we go downstairs?” Nico said, cutting his train of thought off sharply. Will blinked, and nodded, trying desperately for the flicker of disappointment in his chest to fade, and avoiding thinking about what it meant. 

Some had set up strings of fairy lights while Will had been upstairs, and they were already bathing the garden with a gentle, golden glow. 

The summer was coming to an end, and it had been one hell of a summer.

In the corner of the garden he could see Percy and Annabeth wrangling something that looked like fireworks. It was the best way to end the summer, after all, and look forward to whatever came next. 

One hell of a summer.

That was all Will had been thinking as he paused, just below the kitchen door. Nico moved on ahead, out of his line of sight, as Will’s thoughts circled around the summer that had been. Even here in the garden surrounded by friends, it was all he could think, in the warm air.

It had flown by in an instant, caught up as he was with working full time. But his next year of study would start in just a few weeks, and he’d shift back down to part time hours, or maybe quit altogether if his workload ramped up. 

He would miss the sunny days surrounded by plants, even if that was a strange thought. He wouldn’t be leaving forever, not even close. But something about the end of the summer gave him the distinct feeling like he had to hang on to what he wanted, lest it slip from his hands like sand. 

_ Choices,  _ Nico had said, when the card flipped out all those nights ago. 

He moved towards Nico. 

He turned just as Will approached, but blinked, as if he hadn’t expected anyone to come up behind him.

“I was just going inside,” be said, and Will could see him anxiously gnawing at the inside of his cheek. “I have to get something from the kitchen.”

“Sure,” Will said, pausing. “Want company?” 

Nico shook his head, looking almost apologetic, but Will could still see a flicker of  _ something  _ behind his eyes. Anxiety? Apprehension? Annoyance? 

But then Nico turned without giving him time to respond, dipping back into the kitchen wordlessly. Will stared at the space he had been in, not sure what to do with himself. 

“Did he go hide again?” 

Will jumped, turning to look at where the voice had come from. Hazel had ducked over, hands clasped behind her back gently. 

“He does that,” she continued, and Will nodded. He had been noticing it, recently, even if it seemed like a new development. He had seemed so confident when Will first met him, but what did that mean, really? 

“Is he okay?” he asked. Hazel stayed quiet, looking in the direction of the kitchen wordlessly. 

“You should ask him yourself,” she said, and Will grimaced. Easier said than done. 

“He’s not exactly forthcoming when he’s not,” he grumbled, and she laughed, nodding. 

“You aren’t wrong,” she said. “But you make him really happy. I think you asking would mean a lot.”

“Is that why you had Percy tell him they didn’t sell catnip?” he asked, looking pointedly at her. He was pleased to see she looked at least a little bit sheepish. 

“Technically, I only ever told Frank,” she said, and Will smiled softly, unable to stay mad at her.

“Why  _ did  _ you guys try so hard to get him to talk to me?” he asked, unable to stop the curiosity bubbling up inside him.

“Just a hunch,” she said cryptically, and Will rolled his eyes. "I like your necklace, by the way."

His hands flew up to the charm, still resting against his sternum. He had already got used to wearing it, like it was designed to fit him perfectly. 

"It was a gift," he said, voice a murmur, and Hazel smiled. 

“I’ll go see if he’s okay, then,” he said, desperate to draw her attention away from the charm, and what that meant.

“Good luck,” she said, as Will moved towards the kitchen.

Nico really hadn’t gone far, but it didn’t look like he was searching for anything. Will found him stood against a counter top, shoulders hunched into himself. Hades had climbed up next to him, rubbing his head against Nico’s elbow.

“Are you okay?” Will asked, voice soft. Nico looked up, like he had been startled. Maybe he had been.  _ Good going, Will.  _

“I’m fine,” he said, and Will nodded. 

“Are you sure?”   
  
Nico sucked in a deep breath, like he hadn’t been expecting the question. He just shrugged, and Will moved a few steps closer. He didn’t want to crowd him, far from it, but - 

He was worried about him. 

“I don’t understand why- why you spend time with me,” Nico said, finally. 

“Really?” Will asked, blinking at him. He glanced up, and nodded slowly. 

Why did Nico spend time with  _ him?  _ He was cool as hell, talented and funny and amazing. But Nico had nodded, and Will’s heart flipped with a distinct, aching sadness.

“I’m a disaster,” Nico said, a tinge of sarcasm in his voice that wasn’t convincing. “And you’re so-”

“Awkward? Clumsy? Ridiculous?” Will suggested, but Nico shook his head vehemently. 

“ _ Sunny,”  _ he said, voice firm, and Will blinked. 

“You’re bright and cheerful and happy,” Nico continued, and Will flushed. “And I’m none of those things.”

“You’re so much more,” Will said, and Nico rolled his eyes. 

“That’s cheesy as hell,” Nico said. 

“It’s  _ true, _ ” Will replied. “You’re so insanely talented, and you work so hard, and you care about your friends and make me smile and laugh and you run a  _ whole damn business.  _ That’s not nothing, Nico.”

Nico blinked, staring up at him blankly. Will fought the urge to look away, to turn his head, to  _ leave.  _ He had no idea what Nico was thinking, what was in his head.  He had no idea if he felt like he was dying whenever he looked at Will, the same way Will felt when he looked at Nico. 

But he was so, so desperate to ask, to know what was going on inside his head. 

“Nico,” he breathed, suddenly desperate to tell him  _ everything.  _ To show him just how much he meant to him, as a person, as a man. 

“Will, I-”

A firecracker sounded with a loud  _ bang,  _ and Nico jumped. Hades bolted off the counter and high tailed it out of the room. 

“Nico, I think you’re one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met,” he continued, all at once, before he could lose his nerve. Nico blinked, and said nothing, but Will had so much filtering through his head. He swallowed hard against the anxiety rising in his throat, and watched Nico’s face carefully. 

If Nico yelled and shouted at him and stomped out of the kitchen, that was its own matter altogether, but all Will wanted at this moment was to  _ know.  _

“Can I kiss you?” he breathed, and there it all was, out in the world. And he _hoped._

“Yeah,” Nico said, voice airy, and Will felt like he was going to fly.

He moved a step closer, hands gently rising as he held them on either of Nico’s sides. The man before him smiled, but then he was reaching up, placing his cool hands on Will’s cheeks and pulling him in to kiss him, breathing him in and leaving Will wanting to scream with how good it felt. 

The fireworks were still going off, and he laughed, delighted against Nico’s mouth. Like every bad romance. 

“Poetic,” Nico murmured, pulling back the barest inch to glance at the window. Will could see bright colours from the fireworks set off in the garden dancing across his face, painting him like he was a canvas and the subject was the perfect summer.

Their friends would tease and grin when they re-emerged, and Will wouldn’t stop feeling the dorky urge to say whatever came to mind around him, but he didn’t mind. Here, with his face between Nico's palms, his own hands on Nico's waist, it was hard to mind. 

“I want to take you on a date,” Will said, kissing him again softly, with his voice just above a whisper. It wasn’t a surprise Nico could hear him with how close their faces were to each other, even with the cracking pops from the garden outside and the whoops of delight from their friends on the other side of the wall. 

“You haven’t even got me flowers yet,” Nico murmured, but a smile was still plastered on his face. Will laughed, unable to help it. 

“I can get you flowers,” he said, knocking his forehead against Nico’s. “Or at least, more catnip.” 

“I’d be happy with catnip.”

“Good,” Will said. “Anything to make you happy.”

And he meant it.

**Author's Note:**

> broke: florist/tattoo shop AUs  
> woke: florist/local witch AUs  
> bespoke: florist/local witch AUs where the witch owns a book shop just because i could
> 
> Also more PJO fics with pets named after relevant Greek gods please
> 
> Find me on tumblr @ americanbeautiies !!


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